Henk Hartong, Brynwood’s senior managing partner and chairman of the Balance Bar Company and Michael Sands, President and CEO of the Balance Bar Company pose with the new Balance Bar packaging in the courtyard of 8 Sound Shore Drive, Greenwich on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010. Hartong is holding Cookie Dough and Sands is holding Caramel Nut Blast. less

Henk Hartong, Brynwood’s senior managing partner and chairman of the Balance Bar Company and Michael Sands, President and CEO of the Balance Bar Company pose with the new Balance Bar packaging in the ... more

Photo: Amy Mortensen

Photo: Amy Mortensen

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Henk Hartong, Brynwood’s senior managing partner and chairman of the Balance Bar Company and Michael Sands, President and CEO of the Balance Bar Company pose with the new Balance Bar packaging in the courtyard of 8 Sound Shore Drive, Greenwich on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010. Hartong is holding Cookie Dough and Sands is holding Caramel Nut Blast. less

Henk Hartong, Brynwood’s senior managing partner and chairman of the Balance Bar Company and Michael Sands, President and CEO of the Balance Bar Company pose with the new Balance Bar packaging in the ... more

Photo: Amy Mortensen

Brynwood revamps Balance Bar

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Health enthusiasts soon may notice a new and improved Balance Bar on supermarket shelves.

Greenwich-based private-equity

firm Brynwood Partners VI LP, which bought the brand from Kraft last year, recently revamped its packaging and taste to reinvigorate the product launched in 1992 as one of the first energy bars in the United States.

"One of the opportunities we saw in Balance Bar was that it was a pioneer in the energy-bar segment," said Henk Hartong, Balance Bar Co.'s chairman and Brynwood's senior managing partner, of the acquisition.

The Balance Bar had been positioned to follow the Zone Diet popularized in books by biochemist Barry Sears. But that message was lost under its 10-year ownership by Kraft, which had added two bars each to its original Base and Gold bars, Hartong said.

"They walked away from it to the point where it was no longer relevant to the packaging communication," he said, adding that the different bars' wrappers also were lacking in visual appeal and uniqueness. "All that had been lost."

The Zone Diet advocates consuming 40 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent from protein and 30 percent from fat.

Under the leadership of Michael Sands, Balance Bar's chief executive officer and president, a new icon showing a runner and the revived 40-30-30 concept was put on the packaging. The Base products were given blue and white wrappers while the Gold products were wrapped in gold packaging, said Hartong, who added he hopes Balance Bar's sales will return to 100 million pieces a year.

Balance Bar, which was moved from Kraft's headquarters in Northfield, Ill., to Valhalla, N.Y., also added three more bars, enhanced the texture and launched a new website and Facebook page.

"We've been looking at the whole mix and have been trying to make it fresh," Sands said.

Companies in the competitive nutritional bar space must have a fresh image and a social media and Web presence, said Kevin McEvoy, a marketing professor at the University of Connecticut's Stamford branch.

"Whether or not consumers use it, it shows they know what's happening and that they're cutting edge," he said.